A day in the life of Shay Finnegan
by scribhneoir
Summary: A number of surprises brighten the day for five year old Seamus Finnegan, and create some challenges for his muggle dad. A short one shot.


A day in the life of Shay Finnegan. 

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the 'Harry Potter' universe and everything and everyone in it, I am just a fan with an imagination running on caffeine and chocolate. I own nothing…believe me!

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A/N: This is a short one shot about a day in the life of a five-year-old Seamus Finnegan. It is a moment of non-angst, which occurred to me while I was writing the next chapter of 'Surviving', which will be posted soon. 

I hope you like it and reviews are very much welcome. Thanks.

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"Mornin' sleepy head"

Jack Finnegan smiled as his bleary eyed five year old son walked into the kitchen, rubbing at his eyes.

"Do you have a good sleep Shay?"

"Yep" Seamus said, nodding his head.

The five year old was obviously not completely awake just yet, as normally he would leave his father's head spinning with his constant talking. Jack Finnegan delighted in his son's enthusiasm for nearly everything, and knew that what he was about to say was going to get rid of any last bit of sleep.

"Well that's good then, because we have a big day ahead of us"

Jack's guess was rewarded when a pair of alert bright blue eyes snapped up,

"Why daidi? Where're we goin'? What are we doin' today?"

Seamus was practically jumping up and down in front of his father in his quest for information. Jack laughed as he reached down, lifted his son and placed him in a chair at the table,

"Well first of all Shay, we are going to get some breakfast because I don't know about you but I'm hungry"

Jack moved towards the cupboard and listened as his son protested,

"Daaaaa" he whined, "What're we going to do today?"

The elder Finnegan smiled as he popped some slices of bread in the toaster, by-passing the more magical food. The Finnegan home was a wonderful mixture of the magical and the muggle.

"Ah now Seamus, you wouldn't want to ruin the surprise now would you?"

He smiled as he watched his son consider the question carefully, weighing the outcomes of any answer, before he nodded his head,

"Okay Daidi, but it is a good surprise isn't it?"

Jack tried to stop a smile at his young son's serious expression as he negotiated,

"Absolutely, it's a very good surprise"

Seamus was apparently satisfied with the answer as he nodded his head and accepted the glass of orange juice that his father handed to him.

As the young boy finished his second slice of toast, he wiped away the jam from around his mouth. His mind had been reeling with the possibilities for the day,

"Is mam coming on the surprise too?"

Jack was cleaning away the breakfast dishes,

"Of course she is," he said as he prepared a cup of coffee for himself "you didn't think your mam would miss a surprise now did you?"

Seamus shook his head,

"Nope" he said with a smile, "Mam always likes surprises"

"Your mam had to go into work for a few hours but once you are dressed and ready to go, we are going to meet her in town"

Seamus took the hint, jumped from his chair and ran back to his room. He quickly found his favourite Ireland Quidditch t-shirt and a pair of jeans, and was running back towards the kitchen when he heard his dad's voice,

"Shay, don't forget to wash your face and clean your teeth"

Jack Finnegan knew his son very well, and knew that he would be so excited at the surprise that he would forget some things.

It was ten minutes later when both Finnegan men were ready to leave the house, but something magical was about to cause some problems.

Seamus was practically bouncing up and down in excitement as his father zipped up his warm coat and began to search for his son's gloves,

"Come on Daidi, I don't want my gloves, lets go"

Jack smiled as he lifted the cushions on the chairs; his son's gloves had a tendency to be found in the strangest places,

"Shay, the surprise isn't going anywhere, and it's cold outside so we are going to find your gloves before we go anywhere" he raised a hand in triumph, the missing gloves firmly in his grasp, "Found them!"

As he passed the gloves towards his son and watched carefully while Seamus put them on, a movement at the top of the stairs caught his attention. Now, in the years since he had married a witch and learned that the magical world was real, Jack Finnegan had seen many strange things. And since the birth of his son, he had been witness to many things that had previously been unbelievable. But the sight at the top of the stairs very nearly left him speechless.

At the top of the stairs, with his furry hand resting on the banister stood an extremely large teddy bear. But the fact that the bear was not only blinking but also growling was what caused the problems.

"_Damnu air_" he muttered as he tried to figure out what to do.

"Uh oh" a small voice came from beside him "Daidi, you said a bad word"

Remembering the young ears beside him, Jack realised that he needed information.

"Seamus?" he said as he reached for his son's hand.

"Is that the teddy bear that your great-aunt Mary sent you last week," he pointed a shaky hand towards the bear that was looking increasingly menacing.

Seamus followed his father's gaze,

"Teddy" he said, "I told you that you couldn't come today, you need to go back to my room"

Jack began to slowly make his way towards the front door, holding tightly to his son's hand and pulling him along. He wasn't completely confident dealing with a magical problem, that was his wife's area of expertise. But he was fairly sure that talking sternly to an angry looking bear was probably not the best idea.

"Seamus" he said as he lifted his keys from the hall table, "How about we let your mam deal with this when we get home later?"

He didn't wait for a response as he moved his son quickly out the door, locking it securely behind them. The security alarm activated automatically, and he was sure that the bear would be contained within the house. His wife's aunt was an elderly witch who had been growing increasingly confused lately. Over the past year she had sent some gifts, which required a magical response, and this definitely qualified as one of those. His wife would be able to remedy the situation with a quick wave of her wand, but as a muggle with a son whose accidental magic was quite often difficult to control, his options were limited.

"Shay" he turned to his son with a smile, "How about we get some ice-cream on the way to meet your mam, and then we can go on to the Quidditch training?"

A large smile spread across his son's face and Jack smiled at his intentional slip of the tongue. He may not have been able to do magic, but he could still put a smile on his son's face.

"Oh, now I've ruined the surprise haven't I?" he played along as the pair made their way down the garden path and onto the footpath.

"Quidditch Daidi? Are we going to see Quidditch? Where're we goin'? Who're we goin' to see?"

"Now Shay, are you sure you want me to ruin the surprise even more?"

As his son thought about the question once more, Jack thought of the wonderful luck that had resulted in their passes for today's Ireland training session. His wife's career as a journalist had provided them with the chance to surprise their son today.

And the little boy was now pulling on his hand,

"Okay Daidi. I'll wait, but not too long okay?"

Jack smiled as he nodded his head,

"Absolutely Shay, not too long now"

Seamus' love of surprises was well known to his parents, and Jack knew that the look on the young boys face when he entered the stadium would be a wonderful moment.

"So Shay" he said as he held tightly to his son's hand "What flavour of ice-cream do you want today?"

The End.

Thanks for reading and please review.


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